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Chicken Shish Tawouk – Classic Lebanese Recipe

Shish tawouk is the classic Lebanese marinade for barbecue chicken and is my favourite wrap filling. The Lebanese love any opportunity to grill chicken and meat; we don’t just wait for good weather like here in the UK. I’ve seen people light the grill in the middle of winter and they see it as just another way of cooking rather than only at special occasions. There are lots of variations of shish tawouk especially when you go from one country to another in the Middle East, but the common factor is a creamy garlic flavour with an orange colour, which is a result of the paprika. Some people like to use yoghurt, garlic powder, mayonnaise and ketchup but I got this recipe from my chef friend who works at my favourite Lebanese deli and he uses traditional garlic sauce as the base which gives it a wonderful zingy flavour. My garlic sauce recipe can be found here, you might as well make some to go with the chicken anyway. Shish tawouk should be subtly spiced so adding chilli would turn it into another thing altogether, white or black pepper is acceptable and a good paprika will also add depth and colour. Though the classic way is to barbecue you can also shallow fry the chicken pieces and grill them in the oven, which I often do before I add chicken to curries or stews. Finally, to make the perfect chicken wrap get some extra fresh Lebanese flat bread, hand cut and fry some chips, get some spicy (unsweet) pickles and a good dollop of fresh garlic sauce. Make your chicken wrap with these ingredients and for a finishing touch hot press it in a panini grill for half a minute and then you will be on your way to becoming a wrap connoisseur, which is a life goal in itself 😝

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....or as we Lebanese say; Ahla w Sehla! :)
Here you'll find recipes collected from my Lebanese Mama, some regional classics and some secret family recipes. I come from a family of exceptional home cooks and I don't think I even went to a proper restaurant until I went to college, whereby I tried everything only to realise I'd been raised on gourmet food without even knowing it. My Teta (grandmother) was a legendary cook from Lebanon who could rustle up a feast out of nothing. My mother too ...